On 19 March 2013, the Nonviolent Radical Party, Transnational and Transparty and No Peace Without Justice held a roundtable discussion with Sam Rainsy, leader of the Cambodian opposition and member of the General council of the Radical Party, and Mu Sochua, member of the Cambodian parliamentary opposition, at NPWJ Brussels office.
The meeting, which was attended by representatives of human rights NGOs, provided an opportunity for an open discussion on the current situation in Cambodia focusing on the obstacles that the opposition to Prime Minister Hun Sen is facing in the run-up to the national elections scheduled for 28 July 2013.
Rainsy and Sochua drew attention to the fact that despite the EU is the largest donor to Cambodia, poverty and corruption have not diminished with the years. One crucial obstacle to the “transition” phase in Cambodia is constituted by the continuity by the political class in power with the genocidal regime of the Khmer rouge. “Transition towards what? What is needed is an immediate transformation”, Rainsy said.
Rainsy also stressed the need to reform the current election system which remains unacceptably biased in favour of Hun Sen’s ruling party, which uses various tricks, such as manipulation of the electoral roll, to secure a victory even before Voting Day. He finally recalled the appeal launched by the new party of which Rainsy is President and leader, the CC (CNRP, created by the merger of three political parties: Sam Rainsy Party, FUNCIPEC Party and Party for Human Rights ), calling on the European Union and its Member States not to recognize the legitimacy of the upcoming elections.
- Watch the video of the event
For further information, contact Matteo Angioli on +32-(0)2-548-3921, or Nicola Giovannini on ngiovannini@npwj.org or +32-(0)2-548-3915.
